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Patented Jan. 31, 1950 UNITED STATES ETIENT :OFFICE REVERSING VALVE Niels A. Christensen, Sonthliuclidflhio Application August. 21, 1944, Serial No. 550,368

1 Claim. 1 This invention relates to valve structures and particularly to a device that is adaptable for use as a reversing valvefor directing the fiow of fluid toa working cylinder or to any device in which fluid under pressure, is. adapted to be used.

There is a great demand at the present time, particularly in aircraft construction, for a reversing valve that will operate satisfactorily without leakage to direct theilow of fluid so as to control the operation of, the working device, such as a cylinder or motor locatedat a remote point. In aircraft manufacture, it is desirable to mount in the cockpit, within reach of the pilot, a valve for controlling the flow of, fluid, to a Working de vice that is located, for example, in the region of the landing gear, the ailerons, the rudders, bomb doors, variable pitch propeller and other devices of the modern airship requiring precision. and positive control. The dificulty of atsuring satisfactory operation of the valve mechanism, however, without danger of leakage, and with a minimum degree of efiort by the operator is essential, not only in aircraft operation, but also, in the operation of hydraulic equipment where the operating device is remotely located from the point of control.

An object of the present invention is to provide a valve mechanism which will be simple in construction and yet will operate satisfactory to resist leakage under high pressure without necessitating an expensive construction, and which will be-positive in operation and yet, permit flexibility in the control of the fluid that isused for operat ing a working device.

My invention is shown in the drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a side view of a valve assembly embody ing'one type of working device; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the structure of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is ascctional view through a packing ring that is used with the valve mechanism; Fig. ll is a sectional view showing the packing ring assembled in a piston groove; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the valve in off position; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the valve in oneworkingposition; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the valve in a different working position, and Fig. 8 is a sectional view diagrammatically illustrating the. use of the valve in connection with a. fluid motor.

My invention includes a valve; device having a cylinder [0, one end of. which has a head H which has an aperture tZextending therethrough and adapted to receive a conduit for connecting; fluid. from the. cylinder, and the other end [.3 ofwhich. is-open. to the atmosphere and is provided with a bracket It for attachment to anysuitable:

support. A inulthpistcn member I5 is: slidably mounted within the cylinder and has a rod l6 pro.- jeeting from one end thereof and adapted for slot connection it.

open end of the cylinder, and the free end of the leve-rterminates in a handle 2! by means of which,

it may be oscillated about the axis of the pivot it for reciprocating the piston within the cylinder. lever is adapted to engage suitable notches, designated L, Off, and R, in the cover plate, .23 of, the housing for holding the lever and, thereiore, the associated piston in a predetermined position.

The cylinder is shown as having ports: 25, 26, and 2? at spaced points in the wall thereof, and is, illustrated as having an annular groove 28 adjacent the port 25 and also as having provision for attaching conduits so, 3! and 32- for communication with ports 25, 25, and 27, respectively; Other annular grooves 28 and 29 are disposed in th cylinder in, communication with the ports 26 and 2?! respectively.

Inthe assembly of Figs. 1 and 2, the. conduit 30 serves to supply fluid under pressure to the cylinder, while conduits 3i and 32 establish communi-.

cation between the valve and a working device. Such ,deviceis. illustrated as a cylinder 35 which has a piston 3.6. therein and rods 37 and fill, which,

project through heads 39 and, 49 respectively on,

opposite ends of the, cylinder. The heads may be, held in position on the cylinder by means of the rods,33.,,and the cylinder may beanchored against movement, with, respect to the cylinder ill in any convenient way. Any suitable device desired to be actuated may be attached to one or both piston rods ,3] or 38, and for such purpose, each rod is shown as having an eye 4! by means, of which the desired connection can be made. Communication between the cylinder 35 and the respective conduits 3i and 32 may be obtained through passage-.- ways 42 and 43 in, the heads 39 and 4t, respectively.

The present invention is intended to direct the flow of fluid from the conduit 31] into the conduit Si or 32 as desired, and simultaneously to effect a' discharge of fluid from the-working cylinder 35. This is accomplished by providing an elongated annular groove til the: intermediate; portion of" the member it, they groovehaving such length:

thatit uncovers either the port 216, or '27,, while? A spring pressed plunger 22 carried by the in the cylinder.

in communication with the port 25, so as to direct the flow of fluid through either port 26 or 27, depending upon the position of the member l5 with reference to its associated cylinder. In the position of the parts shown in Fig. 2, the piston is in the off position illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 5, wherein the flow of fluid is prevented into the ports 26 or 21 by the packing rings 50, and wherein the passage of fluid from either conduit 3! or 32 along the piston to the discharge port l2 therein is prevented by packing rings 5!. The rings 55 and 5!, at each end of the groove 45, are spaced apart sufliciently to bridge the ports 26 and 27, respectively, when the piston is in the ofi position.

The discharge from the working cylinder through the valve cylinder I is accomplished by making the piston hollow from the end 55 thereof to a point 55 adjacent the opposite end and by establishing communication between the hollow part and a groove 58 by means of radially extending passageways 59. Leakage from the groove 58 is sealed by means of a packing ring 35. The groove in turn operates to permit the discharge of fluid from the conduit 3! into the hollow portion of the piston whenever the piston is in such position that the groove 58 is in registration with the port 26, as is shown for example diagrammatically in Fig. 6. Discharge of fluid from the passageway 32 is permitted whenever the piston is moved sufficiently far to the left of Fig. 2 to uncover the port 2'? as is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 7.

To effect a fluid tight seal, the present invention utilizes a packing ring, designated at 55A in Fig. 3 and which normally is circular in shape and is circular in cross-section. The groove in which the ring is adapted to be seated is indicated at 503 in Fig. 4 as having a depth suflicient to cause the ring to assume an elliptical shape when the piston containing it is inserted within the cylinder and to have a length greater than the longest dimension of the compressed ring whereby the ring is permitted to move slightly with respect to the piston whenever the piston is reciprocated Such slight movement is suincient to knead the packing material and keep. it in satisfactory working condition. The same type of packing is shown in the working cylinder on the piston 35 and on the heads 39 and 40, respectively.

The three available positions indicated in Fig. 1 for the operating lever i! designate the left hand, the off and the right hand position corresponding to the valve settings indicated in Figs. 7, 5, and 6, respectively. Thus, when the lever is swung to the left, with the index plunger occupying the notch indicated L, the valve member i5 will be moved to the left of the diagram indicated in Fig. 7 at which time fluid under pressure will flow in the direction of the arrows from the inlet conduit around the piston groove 45 into the conduit 3| and thence into the cylinder 35. In such position, the piston uncovers the port leading to the conduit 32, hence, while fluid under pressure is moving the working piston to the right, fluid is being forced from the cylinder 35 through the conduit 32 into the cylinder iii and outwardly therefrom through the port l2 to a reservoir from which it can again be pumped to the piston.

When the lever I1 is moved to the off position of Fig. 1, the piston I5 occupies the position of Fig. 5, wherein the ports leading to the conduits 4 3| and 32 are closed, so that the working piston 36 is locked in any desired position.

When the lever I! is moved to the right in Fig. 1 sufliciently to have the indexing plunger 22 thereof enter the notch designated R, the piston l5 occupies the position shown in Fig. 6, wherein fluid under pressure enters through conduit 30, passes around groove 45 and enters conduit 32 as shown by the arrows. Simultaneously with the establishment of communication between groove 45 and the conduit 32, communication is also established between the conduit 3| and the groove 58, whereby fluid in the conduit 3| can be discharged through the hollow passageway 51 into the cylinder I i! and outwardly therefrom through the port I2, whereby the working piston 35 is forced to the left in Fig. 6.

The modification of Fig. 8 shows the conduits 3! A and 32A connected to a hydraulic motor indicated in general at 15, the construction of which is well-known in the art, and, therefore, need not be described in this application. It is sufficient only to state that the working device, whether in the form of a piston or a hydraulic motor can be actuated either in a forward or reverse direction merely by sliding the piston l5 within the cylinder I0 under the control of a hand lever that can be readily actuated and held in any desired selected position.

An advantage of the present invention is the fact that remote control of a fluid actuated working device can be obtained in a simple and expeditious manner without resulting in leakage.

or reverse direction, or to be stopped at any intermediate position as may selectively be desired. Additionally, the mechanism operates without imparting a jolt to any of the mechanism, notwithstanding the fact that the manually controlled operating lever can be quickly swung from one position to another.

I claim:

A reversing valve comprising a cylinder having one end thereof open and having a discharge port at the opposite end thereof and having at the side a supply and two delivery ports, the supply port being intermediate the delivery ports, a hollow piston slidably mounted in the cylinder having one end open in communication with said discharge port and the other end closed adjacent the open end of the cylinder, said piston having three lands thereon, two of the lands being adapted to be disposed opposite the respective delivery ports and a third land being disposed adjacent the open end of the cylinder when the valve is in closed position, said third land having at least one sealing ring thereon and each of the other lands having at least two spaced sealing rings thereon, said piston having a peripheral groove between the first and second lands, said' groove being operable to establish communication between the supply port and either of the delivery ports to the exclusion of the other delivery port, a passageway through the wall of the piston between the sealing ring on the third land and the adjacent sealing ring on the second land, said passageway in a predetermined position'of the piston being adapted to connect one of the de- Number livery ports with the interior of the piston. 1,707,692 NIELS A. CHRISTENSEN. 1,925,109 2,115,383 REFERENCES CITED 5 23421763 The following references are of record in the 2,394,954 file of this patent: 2,396,643

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 10 Number 861,805 Camp July 30, 1907 207,983

Name Date Terbeest Apr. 2, 1929 Olson Sept. 5, 1933 Christensen Apr. 26, 1938 Smith Feb. 29, 1944 Christensen Feb. 5, 1946 DeGanahl Mar. 19, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany of 1909 

